Shadows of Childhood
by Vicki Crawford
Summary: Set During Battle City, this is a Story of Friends left behind, and Shadows that refuse to quit. OC
1. Past Worries

AHA! Along with a newChapter, I've decided to edit my rambling in the first chapter of SoC. Ain't that grand?

Leyla: Hm. . .Grand. . .

Oh, hush you. Anyway, I decided that I was changing somethings about the story, like the fact that it takes place DURING Battle City and not after. Expect anything else to be slow, but not AS slow as the second chapter got posted. Now, something I failed to do last time is make a disclaimer. You won't get anything for sueing me, but I don't want you to try anyway. MARIK! Do the disclaimer.

Marik: Vicki does NOT own Yuugiou or the characters. After all, do you see me tied up with a Ribbon attached to my neck as a Christmas Present to her Friend? I didn't think so.

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The streets of Cairo were bustling with the normal business. Merchants shouting for people to see their products, Locals shouting back, and Tourists trying to hide from the scorching Desert heat. All three were disturbed by the young girl running through the streets, her bright Auburn hair flowing untamed behind her. She kept running until she got to the outskirts, where a Sandy-haired boy was sitting on a stack of blocks, eyes closed behind crudely made goggles. 

"Malik! Malik!" The girl cried, running over to him. The boy opened his eyes to look at her as she caught her breath on the blocks. Seeing who it was, he greeted her warmly.

"Oh, hey Leyla. What's going on?" She looked back up at him, her bright green eyes sparkling as she spoke.

"My new Brother was born! He's so cute and only this big," She said holding her hands really close together. Malik grinned and hopped down from his blocks.

"Cool! Can we come over and see him?" Malik asked still grinning.

"Yeah! As soon as you can get away come see! Momma gave him this really long and cool name, but we just call him Kono," Leyla replied, clapping her hands together happily. Malik nodded.

"We will, don't you worry!" She hugged him, and he hugged her back, both laughing and giggling in that special type of happiness meant only for children.

"Well, I better get going. Momma needs my help ya' know, now that she has to take care of Kono." Leyla said pulling back. Malik nodded again, sadly this time.

"Yeah. You'll come back tomorrow, won't you?" Leyla looked down.

"Well, I'm not su-" She began before Malik's frantic voice cut her off.

"But, you promised! You promised that you'd be there!" He protested. Leyla thought for a moment before looking up, her trademark impish grin back.

"Alright! I'll be there!" She said happily. Hearing someone at the hatch to Malik's home, Leyla pecked him on the cheek and quickly ran off, waving to Malik who was furiously waving back.

You see, for the longest time both children had been alone. Uncaring parents, no one to play with, not even any toys. Malik was training to become a Tomb keeper for the Pharaoh, while Leyla's family was extremely poor. It was merely by chance that the two met around three years ago. She was five, he six. Leyla had been trying to get food for her family by taking it from a local cart and was caught. Barely able to escape, she headed for the nearest place possible to hide. It was a storeroom that put her in a dead end. The Cart keeper on her tail, she quickly lifted a trapdoor on the floor and crawled out of sight. Now inside, she had no choice but to follow the tunnel. The tunnel happened to lead right into Malik's room. Believe me, it was hard to tell who was more surprised as Leyla came up from the Tunnel, her or Malik. Somehow, both managed to contain shouts. Leyla quickly began to climb back down when Malik stopped her. He simply asked her name, she asked his and a wonderful friendship began. Now, at the time of his tenth birthday Malik was going to receive his Tomb keeper's initiation and Leyla had promised to be there for him. In secret of course, his Father would never allow him to have any connection with the outside world.

Leyla waited, her eyes wide open all night, unable to sleep, able to think only of the pain that would be caused to her best friend tomorrow. As soon as the sun rose she made her way quietly from the house and down the eerily vacant streets. Through the old tunnel she crawled, careful to check for any inhabitants of the room other than herself. No one. She crawled from the hole, quickly covering the stone that was her exit, and peaked down the hall. She could hear voices from a nearby room and went towards it. Isis, Malik's older sister, stood in the Hallway, her hands covering her mouth horrified. Leyla crept over to her trying to see what she was looking at. The sight, some say, still haunts her to this day.

Malik stood over the body of his Father, blood smeared on the wall behind him. He held a golden rod with a blade on each side of the top, both covered in blood. But what scared her the most was the look on his face. Malik didn't seem upset or remorse, _he was laughing!_ Leyla froze in shock and pure horror as his laughing face turned to her. Something was wrong, she knew Malik's face and this wasn't it. The usually pale lavender eyes were navy, maybe even black. His smile was cruel and harsh as he walked towards her. Instinctively she tried to walk backwards from him, only to find that she couldn't move. That rod was glowing and she saw from the corner of her eye that she was as well. She could do nothing but stand there as he stood in front of her and looked her up and down. It seemed like he was about to let her go because her muscles loosened and she could move. Instead he looked to her with an angered look, something about her face had caused 'this imposter' to loose control. She tried to run when he brought the rod back, but she wasn't fast enough. The blade struck her across the face, her eyes to be exact, and with such a force to throw her across the room. She tried to pull herself back up, but couldn't see to do so. All she could do was listen to Rishid comfort Malik, whose voice was back to its normal pitch. When she got up, she stumbled to where she thought the doorway was. She could hear Malik begging her to come back, but she was too frightened to turn back. She somehow found her way back to her Tunnel and outside. After that she was lost. She staggered around hopelessly before finally crumpling to the ground, crying.

_**-Six years later-**_

"Master Malik?" Rishid's questioning voice disturbed Malik from his thoughts.

"What?" He snapped unintentionally.

"We found something that we think you should see, another person who controls Ra." With these words Malik was up, his attention fixed on Rishid.

"Who?" Malik demanded, his eyes alight at the thought of someone else invading on his control with Ra.

"We don't know her name, but Taro is dueling her. You could-" Rishid began, but could tell from the look on his Master's face that he was already reading the Rare Hunter's mind . . .

_-Mind-reading-_

_The girl stood across from Taro, her eyes hidden by a pair of dark glasses. She held herself well, confident in her ability. Her clothes were simple, a sky blue tee and jeans, but her light Auburn hair blended enough with it to change that thought. Her hand rested on her cards as she drew from the Duel disk on her tan arm. Without even looking at it she put it on the field in attack position. Taro was nervous; Malik could feel it. She was a strong duelist with sturdy moves, but it was the fact that she played her cards without looking at them that was making Taro uneasy. Malik waited hoping that soon he would see Ra as Rishid had said. He got his wish as the girl dealt the final blow to her opponent, a direct attack from her apparently favored Feral Imp. Standing straight, an odd caw came from her, answered by one deeper. As a shadow went over Taro's head Malik forced him to look up. The unmistakable form of Ra glided down, though on a much smaller scale. It appeared the same as the Ra that listened only to Malik, but it was the size of a Bald Eagle. It landed on the girl's now outstretched arm with a cross between a happy chirp and a roar. Seeing the girl's connection with Ra, Malik decided that he would learn about her and her miniature God no matter what._

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Vicki: So? It'll have another chapter soon, I promise. I wanted to get this uploaded before my computer crashed and I lost it. 


	2. Discovery

Whee! I know all of you have been waiting so impatiently for me to write on this story again, and I'm sorry it took so long. I completely lost the Frame of mind to where this story was headed. The little thought Train de-railed. In other words, I forgot my own Story's plot. -- But, anyway, this is the second installment of Shadows of Childhood and I really hope you all enjoy!

Feral: Hey! Don't forget to tell them to review!

Meep! Yeah, Read and Review People! -gives Feral a Cookie- Good Imp.

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Snapping back to himself, Malik frowned. Whoever that Girl was, she controlled Ra in a way he did not. He had to find out how.

"Bring her to me!" He ordered, Lavender eyes flashing dangerously.

"But, how-?" Rishid began, but was cut off by his Master's shout.

"I don't care how! Just make sure she's able to talk and go now!" With a bow, Rishid hurried from the Room, leaving Malik to think and plot on his chair.

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With a smile, Leyla heard her opponent fall. He had taken his defeat hard, falling to the Ground with a shout when she had dealt her final attack. She tilted her head back and cawed. Her smile widened into a grin when it was answered deeply. Her arm rose up at the light touch of Claws. A head of Feathers found its way under her other palm, allowing her to gently scratch the Large Bird's neck. She moved her hand towards the Bird's other Claw, taking a skillfully carved Cane from it. The smooth wood felt good under her palm, and for the moment she was content. Reality touched her in the form of fingers wrapping around her ankle.

"P-please, h-help me." It was the voice of the Man she had been dueling. Carefully sliding her hand down her leg to the Man's hand around her ankle, she attempted to calm him down.

"Hey, what's the matter?" She asked, wondering how anyone could take losing a Duel this hard. He sounded as though she had dug a stake through his chest.

"H-he'll kill me. . ." He nearly whispered. Leyla raised an eyebrow. There was definitely something wrong with this guy, but she decided to be nice.

"Who'll kill you?" A groan, then Silence. "Hey, you alright? Hey!" She tried to grip the man's shoulder, but his hand had gone limp and fallen from her ankle, giving her no way to reach out to him again. Claws pulled at the Back of her shirt, standing her up. "What is it, Wings?" She asked the Bird. He answered with a Growling Caw. Just as she was about to question his sound, a hand clutched her shoulder roughly. She felt another grab her other shoulder and start to drag her. Quickly following another growl from Wings was a Deep yell from, apparently, one of her attackers. She felt something warm drip onto her shirt, causing her to step back. The handle of her cane shifted in her hand, carrying the rest of it around to swing at her other captor. Unfortunately, she missed. The bit of power behind the swing was caught by the Man and put back when it was cracked across the back of her head. The last thing she heard before she blacked out was an oddly familiar man's voice.

"Master Marik will be pleased."

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"Hey, she's waking up."

"Good. I'll go get Master Marik. He wants to see her immediately." Leyla groaned groggily, clapping a hand to the back of her throbbing head. What were those voices? Where was she? Why was she here? She groaned again. Why did her head ache so much? The last answer she knew. She remembered her cane being cracked on her head. Wait, her cane. Despite her head, she started feeling around for it. She only managed to come across someone's ankle.

"Lookin' for your stick, kid?" Came a mean voice above her. She nodded, only to be kicked off of the Man's Ankle. "Well, too bad. You can't have it back until Master gets through with you." Master? Master whom? Her head throbbed again, causing her to grip it painfully. She suddenly noticed something else: Wings was nowhere to be heard. She gently cawed for him, ending up with aching ribs from being kicked. "What's the matter with you? Keep your stupid little mouth shut! Or I'll-"

"You won't touch her." Leyla cocked her head towards the voice. It was cruel, but it was also familiar. To the Man who had kicked her, it was frightening.

"M-master Marik! I didn't, I mean I wouldn't-" His stuttering became strangled, then stopped completely. Something slid to the ground next to her, causing her on an impulse to scramble clumsily to her feet. She heard nothing for a moment.

"Leave us, Rishid." Came the cruel, familiar voice. After the sound of shuffling, she heard silence again. Sound her only way to know about who was around her, she decided to chance talking.

"Hello?" She asked, wondering if she had been left.

"Hello to you, too." She was answered. The cruel man was still there. She frowned, trying not to show fear.

"What do you want with me?" The Voice snickered.

"What do I want? What I want is your communication with my God." The statement seemed more of a command, but it confused Leyla horribly. God? How could she be communicating with anyone's God? The only God she regularly prayed to was Ra.

"I, I'm afraid I don't understand the question." A hand ripped tightly around her throat, pinning her to the hard stonewall.

"You know what I'm talking about. I watched you duel. I saw you call your Small Ra to your Arm. How did you control Ra in such a way?" She struggled against the strong grip, only to be choked further.

"I-I still don't know what you're talking about. I only have Wings with me." This was met by silence, the hand relaxing slightly around her throat.

"Wings. . . Is that what you're calling him?" Leyla nodded, letting her own hand relax from its futile attempt to pry his strong hand from her throat. In the still silence, she was able to think about the man who had her at his mercy. She slowly moved one of her fingers over his, hoping he wouldn't notice. She wasn't surprised that his skin was rough, he definitely sounded like the rough type, but the slight smell of lavender that she was beginning to notice confused her. She wondered if perhaps a girl was in the room with them, but then again, he had seemed very keen to be left alone when he dismissed the other Man, Rishid.

She jumped at the sudden feel of skin on her left cheek. That rough skin trailed down the side of her face, causing her to shudder at the light touch. The finger was still for a moment, before the man spoke again, standing on the opposite side of her from his hand.

"What's your name, girl?" He asked.

"Leyla." She replied, trying to pull her face back as his finger wrapped around the side of her sunglasses and pulled them off. Even blinded, her eyes stung from the light that must have been in the room hitting them. She had never been comfortable with her Sunglasses off, and the man remaining silent was starting to get to her again. She attempted to squirm out of his grip, hoping him distracted, and was surprised to find that his hand slid away. She could only stand there, massaging her neck and waiting for something to be said, or for the man to leave. But, what happened was his voice coming again, farther away. He'd taken a step back, shaking his head.

"Leyla. . ." He murmured. "Najiib?" She looked up from the floor, shocked. How in the world did he, of all people, know her last name?

"How, how do you know that?" She asked, taking a step forward. But, all she got was silence. This was certainly turning into an odd encounter.

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AHA! Cliffie for you folks! –has things thrown at head- Aw, you know you love me for updating anyway. n-n Don't forget to review and tell me what you think. Do you like it? Want me to keep going? Wish I would drop dead and take my crappy writing with me? xD Review, and let me know.


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